In order for an atom to emit X-rays, an electron must jump from a high
to low energy level. The difference in that energy needs to be large
enough to produce an X-ray photon, which means a jump of about 100
electon-volts or more. In a hydrogen atom, the largest energy drop (from the 1st excited state
to the ground state) is about 10.2 eV, so the most energetic photon it
could produce would be in the UV region of the spectrum (at 121 nm or
so).

Jan 20th, 2015

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